Penn Yan punches ticket to finals after rallying in second half to beat Chenango Forks

The Mustangs get another chance to grab a second state championship in the history of the team.
James Johnson

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Penn Yan's Dylan Stape and Austin Blumbergs celebrate a goal while still 4-6 behind Chenango Forks in the second period at St. John Fisher College.(Photo11: CARLOS ORTIZ/@CFORTIZ_DANDC/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)Buy Photo

Someone has to get near the top in order to finish climbing a mountain, sometimes more than once.

Penn Yan Academy, Section V's dominant boys lacrosse team among the smallest schools, won its only state championship in 2001, despite the Mustangs often taking part in the race.

This season is no different.

The Mustangs earned another chance at another state championship during its 20th appearance in a state final four Wednesday, defeating Section IV-champion Chenango Forks from the Binghamton-region 10-7 in the Class D semifinal at Saint John Fisher College.

“This is legacy, this is what this is," Penn Yan senior Austin Blumbergs said. “There’s so much success here (with the team). People look up to us and expect us to do great things.

“I’m glad that I’m doing great things with this group of people.”

Penn Yan (15-5) earned its fifth appearance in a state final, the first outside Class C. The last time the Mustangs were in a state championship game was 2016, when they lost 15-4 to Cold Spring Harbor.

The Mustangs climbed back from 5-1 and 6-2 deficits by nearly shutting out Chenango Forks (19-2) in the second half.

The Blue Devils, who won a state playoff game for the first time June 2, were in control during the first half until Blumbergs scored with time expiring in the second quarter.

“They got us,” Chenango Forks coach David Pavlick said. “We started to not move the ball as much as we did in the first half or in the first quarter. That was where they got us.”

Penn Yan faces Section I champion Pleasantville or Section XI's Mattituck in the state final at 10 a.m. Saturday back at St. John Fisher College’s Growney Stadium.

“We’ve got some unfinished business,” Penn Yan coach Brian Hobart said. “We’ve got a few kids left on this team that played on that team (in 2016).

“We have a lot of young kids out there. We have kids who were our ball boys in fourth and fifth grade that are now playing for this team, who have wanted to be in this game.”

Blumbergs scored four goals, including the go-ahead for Penn Yan with 1:42 remaining in the third quarter. Conner Fingar scored three times and Dylan Stape twice for Penn Yan.

The Mustangs watched Chenango Forks sophomore attack Kevin Matson score his 82nd, 83rd and 84th goals of the season in the first half. Sean Wiser scored twice, including on a shot with 41.7 seconds remaining to prevent Chenango Forks from being shut out in the second half.

“We let a few in early, got kind of discouraged but came back,” Penn Yan sophomore goalie Jeff Kinyoun said. “The second half is our half, and we’ve done that all season.

“Came back strong and finished out in the fourth quarter.”

Fingar evened the score 6-6 with 4:06 remaining in the third quarter. The Mustangs failed to capitalize on a slashing penalty called during the scoring play, but the Blue Devils were already having a difficult time stopping the Mustangs, who were on a run of four goals.

The score remained 6-6 when Ayden Mowry had the ball and was facing midfield, as if he was behind the net being guarded by the Blue Devils.

But Mowry was a step or two in front of the goal line and dumped a pass to an onrushing Blumbergs, who beat Guari Reyes, a goalie who made more than one outstanding save for Chenango Forks in the first half.

Blumbergs was not finished for the quarter, pushing Penn Yan’s lead to 8-6 with 5.5 seconds remaining in the period. Both teams were turned back in man-up situations, before Blumbergs struck again with 4:08 to play.

“They moved out a little bit and limited the shots that we wanted, so it was tough to beat,” Pavlick said.

Fingar seemed to extinguish any chance of a comeback by scoring with 2:52 remaining.

“From where we’ve come from the beginning of the year until now it’s a testament to these kids just working hard every single day,” Hobart said. “We hit some potholes today, but nobody gets rattled. We just get it done.”

Chenango Forks meanwhile, may have another state-level sports team. The Blue Devils football team can be found quickly in the high school football state record book.

“You add that little thing each year and you push the kids, put your expectations out there,” Pavlick said. “This group 100 percent came and met those expectations.”

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Penn Yan's Dylan Stape protects the ball from Chenango Forks' Noah Raymond in the second period at St. John Fisher College in Pittsford. The state semifinal game was played June 6, 2018. CARLOS ORTIZ/@CFORTIZ_DANDC/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER